🔗 Share this article The iconic guitarist Steve Cropper, member of the famed band Booker T & the MGs, has died at the age of 84 Steve Cropper served as a key member of the resident musical group of the influential Memphis label Stax Records. Esteemed musician Steve Cropper, the celebrated guitarist with Booker T and the MGs, has died at the age of 84. The guitar virtuoso, who played on and collaborated on writing Otis Redding's Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay and Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour, died this past Wednesday in Nashville. Often cited among the finest supporting groups in soul music, the group the MGs was the house band of the influential Memphis label Stax/Volt and is primarily known for their 1962 track Green Onions. Cropper later became a member of the blues revival band The Blues Brothers in the late '70s and played on their popular rendition of Soul Man. "Steve was a beloved guitarist, composer, and producer whose profound talent touched countless people around the world," his family expressed in a message. "While we feel sorrow for the loss of a husband, father, and friend, we are consoled knowing that Steve will endure through his music," they added. A cause of death was not disclosed. An associate, Eddie Gore, mentioned he was with Cropper just the day before in Nashville, where the guitarist was in the process of creating new music. "He's such a wonderful human," Gore remarked. "We were fortunate to have him, for sure." Steve Cropper, right, with artists Eddie Floyd and Sheryl Crow. A Prolific Career Named the number two guitarist of all time by a UK publication in 1996, Cropper started his career at Stax Records in 1961 at the age of 20. A year later, the MGs were formed, featuring organist Booker T Jones, drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg - who was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn in 1964. The band was honored by inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. "I've always considered myself to be a rhythm player," Cropper explained in a previous conversation. "I get off on the fact that I can play something over and over, while other guitar players wouldn't consider it. They are reluctant to repeat the same riff twice." As well as a guitarist, Cropper was a productive songwriter, and alongside Dock of the Bay and In the Midnight Hour, he helped write Eddie Floyd's hit Knock on Wood. According to available information, he was "a part of nearly all record released by Stax from 1961 through 1970". "We would literally spend 15 hours a day in the studio," Cropper once recalled. "I think we had 17 or 18 artists on the roster, so we had a very hectic schedule."